CHAPTER IV AL-BIRUNI'S ARABIC ACCOUNT OF THE HINDU RELIGION 1030 A. D. ONE of the most famous of the historic accounts of India is that written in Arabic by al-Biruni nearly a thousand years ago. This learned man was a native of the Transcaspian district of Khwarizm, corresponding to the modern Khanate of Khiva, but he lived at the court of Mahmud of Ghazni and died there in 1048 A. D. His scientific work entitled " Chro- nology of Ancient Nations," dedicated to Mahmud in 1030 A. D., would alone have sufficed to render his name renowned. But it was followed by a still more impor- tant volume, " India," which was the outcome of sev- eral years of travel and residence in the land between the Indus and the Ganges, where he studied under Brahman teachers and thus became acquainted with the Sanskrit language and their ancient sacred law. The value of this interesting book for all matters apper- taining to the geography, history, and culture of the Hindus has been well brought out by its translator, Sachau, from whose version selections relating to the 154
